Born to a member of the Czech diplomatic corps, Madeleine Albright lived in Belgrade, London and Prague before her family settled in Colorado. She earned a political science degree from Wellesley in 1959, and was later awarded a doctorate in public law and government from Columbia. In 1978 she joined the staff of the National Security Council and began establishing herself as an expert in foreign affairs. President Bill Clinton named her the U.S. delegate to the United Nations and then, in late 1996, Secretary of State. She was the first woman ever to hold that post.
